Summary 2009 WY 40

Summary of Decision issued March 18, 2009

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Case Name: Voss v. Goodman

Citation: 2009 WY 40

Docket Number: S-08-0060

Appeal from the District Court of Albany County, the Honorable Wade E. Waldrip, Judge.

Representing Appellant Voss: Pro se.

Representing Appellee Goodman: Gay Woodhouse and Deborah L. Roden of Gay Woodhouse Law Offices, PC, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Facts/Discussion: Mark and Laura Voss requested relief from a district court decision in a declaratory judgment action finding that the Albany County Board of County Commissioners (Board) did not have the authority to grant them temporary access across Goodman’s land during a private road condemnation case.

Jurisdiction: The single issue before the district court was whether the Board had the authority to grant the Vosses temporary access during the private road condemnation case. It was apparent from the decision letter that the district court limited its decision to the appropriate legal issue before it. The Court’s interpretation of the Declaratory Judgment Act makes clear that there remains the prerequisite that the party seeking declaratory relief present the court with an actual controversy. After reviewing the four elements necessary to make a justiciable controversy, the Court stated the case presented a justiciable question and the district court had jurisdiction to decide the question.
Summary Judgment – Interpretation of the Statute: The Court examined the district court’s interpretation of the statute. It noted that while the Board was correct that it was possible for an agency to have implied powers in conjunction with express statutory grants of power, the instant case was not a situation where such an implied power existed. Wyoming’s private road statutes provide the mechanism by which a landowner may petition the exercise of the State’s eminent domain access between his own property and a public road. The statute makes no provision for temporary access. The purpose of a private road condemnation action is to determine whether a landowner meets the statutory requirements that allow a board of county commissioners to exercise its very limited powers of eminent domain. A grant of temporary access, while convenient, is not necessary step in the process. The Vosses sought leave to amend their Answer to add a claim for injunctive relief granting them temporary access to their property during the pending private road proceeding on the theory that the district court could grant such access through equity. The Court held in Bush v. Duff that a district court may not exercise the right of eminent domain. The Voss’ proposed amendment asked the district court to exercise powers of eminent domain not even granted to the executive branch at the time of the request, therefore such a request was futile.

Conclusion: The district court had subject matter jurisdiction to entertain the action for declaratory judgment and correctly determined that the Board had no authority under § 24-9-101 to grant the Vosses temporary access over Goodman’s land during a pending private road proceeding. The district court did not abuse its discretion when it refused to allow Voss to amend their Answer to add a futile claim.

Affirmed.

C.J. Voigt delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/cc5qr8 .

[SPECIAL NOTE: This opinion uses the "Universal Citation." It was given an "official" citation when it was issued. You should use this citation whenever you cite the opinion, with a P.3d parallel citation. Please note when you look at the opinion that all of the paragraphs are numbered. When you pinpoint cite to a quote, you should cite to this paragraph number rather than to any page number. If you need assistance in putting together a citation using the Universal Citation form, please contact the Wyoming State Law Library.]